NATIONAL VIDEO

Big bikes, big hearts

Harley riders give Secret Santa a boost

A pack of 150 leather-clad motorcyclists thundered from Buford to Gainesville on Sunday afternoon to deliver toys to the Chattahoochee Baptist Association's Secret Santa project.

Men, women and children hopped aboard their bikes and into sidecars at Frazier's Harley-Davidson on Friendship Road bearing art supplies, board games and teddy bears. The Hall County Sheriff's Office escorted the bikers and about 10 hot rod cars for the roughly 15-mile journey to the Gainesville Baptist center.

"Most Harley riders seem to have a big heart when you get right down to it," said Ralph Frazier Jr., who owns the Harley-Davidson dealership in Buford, which has led the annual Secret Santa toy ride for 14 years. "I think most Harley riders, if not all, have big hearts when it comes to charities and children."

The motorcyclists collected 30 children's bicycles and enough toys to fill two pickup trucks and a trailer. Frazier said the group's donation could supply gifts for about 200 disadvantaged children in the Gainesville area this Christmas. He said the Chattahoochee Baptist Association will let families come to the center and select items that best suit their family's needs.

In addition to truckloads of toys, the motorcyclists and hot rod drivers donated canned goods, groceries and $600 in cash and gift certificates.

Frazier said that his father, Ralph Frazier Sr., began the Secret Santa toy ride to Gainesville 14 years ago, and now he carries on his father's tradition.

"Every year it seems to just keep growing," Frazier said. "We need a bigger trailer."

Several children participated in organizing the event, and Frazier's 9-year-old son, Alan, helped to register motorcyclists for the toy ride. He also rode alongside his father's Harley in a sidecar from Buford to Gainesville.

"It's not scary," Alan Frazier said. "It's actually pretty fun."

Ralph Frazier said that some motorcyclists came from as far as Blairsville and Cleveland to participate in the Harley-Davidson toy ride.